Antoine Furetière facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Antoine Furetière
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| Born | 28 December 1619 Paris, France |
| Died | 14 May 1688 (aged 68) |
| Occupation | Scholar, writer, Catholic clergyman |
| Nationality | French |
Antoine Furetière (born December 28, 1619 – died May 14, 1688) was a French scholar and writer. He was also a lexicographer, which means he created dictionaries. He is most famous for his funny novel, Scarron's City Romance.
Antoine Furetière was kicked out of the Académie Française. This was a famous French group that worked on the French language. He was expelled because he tried to publish his own French dictionary.
Contents
Who Was Antoine Furetière?
Antoine Furetière was born in Paris, France. His father worked for the king's household. Antoine first studied law and worked as a lawyer. He also worked as a tax collector for a while.
Later, he became a Catholic clergyman. This meant he worked for the church. In 1662, he became an abbé, which is a type of priest. Being a clergyman gave him time to focus on his writing.
In the same year, 1662, he joined the Académie Française. He was accepted because of his writings, including a funny story called Nouvelle allégorique (1658).
What Was Le Roman bourgeois?
One of Furetière's most important books was Le Roman bourgeois (1666). This was a satirical novel. A satirical novel makes fun of things in a clever way.
His book described everyday life, especially for people who worked in law. It also made fun of the popular romance novels of his time. Because it was similar to another funny book by Paul Scarron, it was translated into English as Scarron's City Romance.
This novel was special because the narrator (the person telling the story) often talked about how he was writing the book. He also ignored the usual rules for novels. This made it seem very modern for its time.
Why Was There a Dictionary Fight?
When the Académie Française was first started, its main job was to create a complete dictionary of the French language. Furetière was excited to help with this project at first.
But he soon became frustrated. He thought his colleagues were too slow. He also didn't like their way of working. So, he decided to start working on his own dictionary around 1676.
The Dictionary Controversy
When other members of the Académie Française found out about Furetière's dictionary, they were very upset. They said he had stolen their ideas. They also claimed he broke their rule that only they could publish French dictionaries.
This led to a big argument between Furetière and the Académie. In 1685, Furetière was kicked out of the group. The French government also took away his permission to publish his dictionary.
However, Furetière's dictionary was still published after he died. It was called Dictionaire universel. It came out in 1690 in the Netherlands. His friend, Pierre Bayle, helped prepare it for publishing.
See also
In Spanish: Antoine Furetière para niños
